GWM Tank 300 diesel review: SA’s cut-price G-Wagon

We’ve been trying to review a GWM Tank 300 diesel for the longest time.

This sometimes happens in this business, schedules misalign, and you go months, even years, missing out.

However, all evidence points towards it being worth the wait.

First of all, squint at it, cover the badge, and you’d swear a G-Wagon or Wrangler was sat before you.

And that’s no accident.

The Chinese manufacturer knows precisely who it’s aiming this vehicle at, and what they’ll want in return.

Better still, priced at just R739 900 for the range-topping 2.4TD Ultra Luxury 4X4 you see here, you get every bell and whistle imaginable for your investment.

GWM TANK 300 DIESEL

Under the bonnet sits a 2.4-litre, 4-cylinder turbodiesel. And it’s the single biggest surprise in the entire package. Chinese diesels have a reputation, largely earned, for sounding like a bag of spanners in a tumble dryer.

This one doesn’t.

It’s remarkably quiet and refined at idle and throughout all speed ranges. Output is 135 kW and 480 Nm, numbers that read as perfectly adequate rather than exciting. Drive goes through a 9-speed automatic. And for the vast majority it behaves itself, shifting smoothly and staying out of your way.

Push it to make a quick decision, a sudden kickdown for an overtake, and the gearbox can be hesitant at times. It’s not a dealbreaker but others do it better.

Unsurprisingly, being in the G-Wagon/Wrangler realm, this is not a vehicle that likes to be hurried.

It’s tall, square and it reminds you of this ever so politely when you ask it to accelerate with real urgency.

Could it be faster? Sure.

Does it need to be? No, not really, given what this car is actually built for.

WHERE THE TANK EARNS ITS BADGE

Of course, the GWM Tank 300 diesel needs apologise for nothing because of its selectable on-the-move 4×4 configuration.

Yes, it genuinely can go anywhere you reasonably point it.

Thanks to knobbly all-terrain tyres and the body boasting decent clearances all round. Bar its oddly wide sidesteps, there’s no cosmetic off-roader nonsense some rivals saddle you with.

Of course, thanks to the Iran war the diesel price in SA is in free fall at the moment.

So, when GWM claims 7.7 l/100 km for the 2.4TD, in the real world full of hills and slow-moving Ubers that need passing, you can expect closer to 8.5 l/100km.

That’s a fair and honest gap by industry standards. And means nearly 1 000 km between trips to the fuel forecourt.

WHERE IT MISSED THE BRIEF

Unfortunately, as impressive as the GWM Tank 300 is in all departments, there’s one where it misunderstood the brief completely.

The rear seats do not fold flat. In a vehicle built around the promise of rugged, go-anywhere practicality, that’s a genuine oversight.

Try to load anything bulky – surfboard, mountain bike, flat-pack cabinet, camping gear – and you’re negotiating around a stepped, awkward obstruction in the back.

As a result, the compact Chery Tiggo Cross has about the same bulky hauling capacity as this big SUV.

However, this doesn’t erase all that the GWM Tank 300 gets right.

This is, in essence, a cut-price G-Wagon in all its boxy, characterful glory.

The diesel engine’s refinement alone is worth the price of admission. It’s not a flawless vehicle by any means, but at R739 900, with plenty of convenience tech, genuine 4×4 hardware and a frugal running, it’s hard not to walk away thoroughly impressed.

THE FIGURES: GWM TANK 300 2.4TD ULTRA LUXURY 4X4

• Engine: 2 398 cc 4-cyl turbodiesel
• Power: 135 kW, 480 Nm
• Performance: 0-100 km/h unknown
• Gearbox: 9-speed automatic
• Economy: 8.5 l/100 km (tested), 7.7 l/100 km (claimed/combined)
• Price: R739 900